Gold Coast (Bundall)

Select Society

A warm and friendly welcome to our ADFAS Gold Coast Lecture Program for 2020.

This year we have on offer eight interesting and enriching lectures Event on a wide variety of diverse topics, plus a ‘Special Afternoon’ session in May. Six of our lecturers are from the UK and are accredited by The Arts Society (U.K.) Two are Australian lecturers accredited by ADFAS. They are all acknowledged experts in their Specialist Field.

Our lectures are held at 9.30am on a Saturday Morning at the Home of the Arts (HOTA) in Cinema 1.

Following the lecture we adjourn to the Lakeside Terrace, overlooking the beautiful Gold Coast City skyline, for our Morning Tea. Our ‘Special Event Afternoon’ lecture includes a delicious Afternoon Tea. The venue for this lecture, following our morning lecture is in the Panorama Suite.

The Panorama Suite also affords a wonderful view of the Gold Coast Skyline. Special Event Lectures give members and guests a further opportunity to speak informally, in person, with the lecturer. In addition, at the Special Event Lecture, members and guests enjoy a second specialist lecture on a different topic from that of the morning lecture.

We also organize Art Coach Tours to Exhibitions and places of Cultural Interest during the year and as well, Special Events of Interest such as Film events at HOTA and Theatre Events .These events enable members and guests the opportunity to socialize with others who share a similar interest in The Arts

Our ADFAS Gold Coast Banner advertises what we as a Gold Coast Society offer our members. It is displayed at all our lectures and events at HOTA to attract new members to ADFAS.

We publish an informative Newsletter three times a year which is posted on this website.

Committee 2020

Chairman:Ms Patricia Ruzzene

SecretaryMrs Ann McCallum

TreasurerMrs Carol Little

Membership SecretaryMrs Maree Alexanderson

Programme for 2020

MORNING LECTURES HELD AT 9.30 AM IN CINEMA 1 AT HOTA

29 February 2020The Canal AgePaul Atterbury (The Arts Society)

Between the 1760s and the 1840s a network of 2,000 miles of canals and waterways was built to connect the cities, towns and industrial centres of Britain, a network vital to the successful development of the Industrial Revolution. These canals and river navigations, created almost entirely for commercial traffic with private capital and by huge gangs of labourers working largely with their bare hands, impacted hugely on the British landscape and created a social and economic revolution. A generation of engineers, architects and artists helped to turn Britain into the world’s greatest trading Empire.

28 March 2020The art and hand–written journals of the First FleetersLecturer: Paul Brunton (ADFAS)

Of the approximately 1400 people on the First Fleet of 1787 – 88, the hand-written journals of only 11 have survived. These provide eyewitness accounts of the voyage to Sydney and the first years here. They record the interaction with the Aboriginal people. Written by men of different ranks, each journal offers a unique perspective. Most were discovered only in the twentieth century and one was acquired as late as the 1990s. In 2009, the collection held in the Mitchell Library was included in the UNESCO Memory of the World Program.

16 May 2020The Golden Age of DubrovnikLecturer: Nirvana Romell (The Arts Society)

This lecture focuses on the history of the making of the Dubrovnik Republic and its political and cultural heyday during the 15th and 16th centuries. Majestic altarpieces, churches and civic buildings serve as perfect examples of Mediterranean Renaissance, combining Italian influences with local Medieval tradition. But the importance of Dubrovnik in European history stretches beyond its untouched walls and numerous bell towers. The talk explains the complex historical heritage of this truly unique city. The slant of this lecture is deliberately more on history and architecture and less on paintings and sculpture – most of these were destroyed in the earthquake and fire of 1667.

13 June 2020The Ballet RussesLecturer: Robin Haig (ADFAS)

In 1909, a group of Russian dancers, choreographers, composers and painters burst upon the jaded dance scene in Paris, appearing at the Theatre de Chatelet before a delighted and ecstatic audience. Diaghilev, the Director of the Ballet Russes, believed in a total theatre concept and with a bevy of talented artists he galvanised and changed history in not just dance but in music, scenic design and choreography. Pavlova, Nijinsky, Fokine, Bakst and Stravinsky became world famous and over the period of 20 years artists such as Picasso, Cocteau and Satie collaborated in an unprecedented experiment of total theatre which continued to influence and inspire.

11 July 2020Summer Palaces of the Tsars: the highlightsLecturer: Dr. Alexey Makhrov (The Arts Society)

The royal estates in the environs of St Petersburg not only impress with their splendour but also give fascinating insights into the private lives of the Romanovs. During the 18th Century inhospitable terrain was transformed into idyllic locations in Oranienbaum, Peterhof, Strelna, Gatchina, Tsarskoe Selo and Pavlosk. Peter the Great, his daughter Elisabeth, Catherine the Great and their successors spared no expense in building and decorating palaces, villas and gardens. During the Second World War most of the estates were heavily damaged but have since been lovingly restored. The lecture represents the palaces and gardens in the environs of St Petersburg and gives an account of their past and present.

Andy Warhol’s own fame continues long after his death. He was an innovator and pioneer of Pop Art and his New York studio, The Factory, was the place to be in the 1960s and 1970s. As well, he was an illustrator, a printer, a filmmaker, the manager of rock band, The Velvet Underground, the founder of Interview magazine and the author of numerous books. Most famously, he is remembered as the creator of the iconic pop images of Marilyn [Monroe], Jackie [Onassis] and Elvis [Presley] on soup cans and Coke bottles. He also coined the now well–known expression, 15Minutes of Fame.

12 September 2020The Life and Works of Thomas ChippendaleLecturer: Janusz Karczewski-Slowikowski (The Arts Society)

No cabinetmaker’s name is better known than Thomas Chippendale’s. This lecture examines the basis for his fame and concludes that he was to English Furniture what Shakespeare was to English Literature!

It was Chippendale’s creative design talent, together with his traditionally skilled craftsmanship, which enabled him, through his cabinetmaking business, to design and produce some of the finest and most innovative examples of 18thcentury English furniture in the Rococo, ‘Chinese’, Gothic and Neo-Classical styles. His famous book, The Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker’s Directory depicts Rococo, Chinese and Gothic styles of furniture.

10 October 2020Lost on the Titanic: The Making of the Great Omar BindingLecturer: Dominic Riley (The Arts Society)

When it was completed in 1912, the Great Omar was the most elaborate and opulent binding ever created. It was embellished with over one thousand jewels, five thousand leather onlays and a hundred square feet of gold leaf, and took a team of craftsmen over two and a half years to make. It went down with the Titanic. This lecture tells the story of the Great Omar and the bookbinders Sangorski and Sutcliffe, who were known for their fabulous jewelled bindings. It is also the story of life after the tragedy, and of one young man in particular, who decided against the odds to recreate the binding – a venture which itself is mired in tragedy and which occupied him for the rest of his life.

SPECIAL EVENT AFTERNOON LECTURE

The lectures examine the socio-historic context of artistic life between the Sixteenth Century and the late 1800s and introduce some of the greatest talents of their times.

The first lecture examines the socio-historic context of artistic life between 16th and 19th Century and introduces talented artists such as Properzia de’Rossi, Sofoisba Anguissola, Judith Leyster, Artemisia Gentileschi and others.

The second lecture expands the timeline and focuses on the contrasting changes in art and society in the 19th Century, which had a lasting effect, not necessarily a positive one, on the women artists.

VENUE AND TIME OF LECTURES

All ADFAS Gold Coast Lectures are held at the Home of the Arts (HOTA)135 Bundall Road, Surfers Paradise, QLD 4217

Parking is available.

We ask members and guests to be seated 5 minutes prior to the commencement of the Lecture.For Morning Lectures, members should be seated in Cinema 1 by 9.25 am. The Lecture commences at 9.30 am.For the Special Event Afternoon Lecture members should be seated in the Panorama Suite by 1.25 pm. The lecture commences at 1.30 pm.

Our Lecturers for 2020

29 February 2020Paul ATTERBURY

Paul Atterbury is a writer, lecturer, curator and broadcaster, and a familiar face on the BBC’s Antiques Roadshow, where he has been a member of the team of experts for over 25 years. He specialises in the art, architecture and design of the 19th and 20th centuries, but has many interests and enthusiasms outside this area of expertise, some of which are reflected in the lectures he is offering. He lives with his wife Chrissie by the sea in Weymouth, Dorset and they are both regular visitors to Australia. Indeed, Paul has lectured to every ADFAS society in Australia and New Zealand during previous visits.

28 March 2020Paul BRUNTON

Paul Brunton was Senior Curator, Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales until November 2012. He worked with the Mitchell Library’s Australiana collections since 1973 and was Curator of Manuscripts from 1986 to 2001. He was President of the Australian Society of Archivists, 1991-1993. His annotated edition of Joseph Banks’ journal kept on the Endeavour, 1768-1771, was published in 1998 and in 2002 he had published an annotated edition of Flinders’ letters, Matthew Flinders: personal letters from an extraordinary life. He published an annotated edition of Franklin’s diaries in 2004. At present Paul is preparing an annotated edition of the original handwritten journal and logbook of William Bligh kept on HMS Bounty, 1787-1789, for publication by Allen & Unwin. Paul has curated numerous exhibitions at the State Library of New South Wales. In 2003, he was awarded the Centenary of Federation medal for services to libraries.

16 May 2020Nirvana Romell

Nirvana holds a BA in History of Art and an MA in English Language & Literature. She has 17 years of lecturing experience on three continents. Since her arrival in the UK in 2003, she has been working as a freelance lecturer, public programmes consultant and tour director. Nirvana has presented art history courses and lectures, and has trained staff and volunteers, at the Manchester Art Gallery, the Walker Gallery in Liverpool, University of Manchester and other art and learning institutions. She organises and presents tours of permanent and temporary exhibitions across the UK and study tours to the Balkans, Italy, Sweden and South Africa.

13 June 2020Robin Haig

Robyn is from Perth, Western Australia, where she received her initial ballet training. In her early teens she appeared in a number of staged productions and vaudeville shows, and at the age of 17 joined a new company, the Australian Theatre Ballet, directed by Walter Gore and based in Melbourne. In the same year, 1955, she was awarded a scholarship by the Royal Academy of Dancing that allowed her to travel to London to continue her studies at the Royal Ballet School. On graduating from the School she entered the Royal Ballet Company, Covent Garden, touring extensively to the United States and performing throughout Europe and Russia. She left the Royal Ballet in 1962 and worked internationally as a dancer, choreographer and teacher before becoming the director of the West Australian Ballet. Since moving to the U.S. in 1981, Robin has taught History and Philosophy of Dance, Dance in the Twentieth Century and choreographed as a faculty member at the James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia and the dance faculty at the University of Colorado. Now retired, she is Senior Instructor Emerita.

11 July 2020Dr. Alexey Makhrov

Dr Alexey Makhrov studied art history at the Academy of Arts in St Petersburg and obtained a PhD in architectural history at the University of St Andrews, Scotland, in 1998. He worked as postdoctoral researcher of Russian art criticism of the nineteenth century at the University of Exeter, England, before moving to Switzerland in 2003. Having obtained a master’s degree in International History and Politics at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, he has taught courses on art history in Zurich and Geneva. He has worked as lecturer on cultural tours to Russia and Switzerland since 1998.

15 August 2020Lucrezia Walker

Lucrezia Walker Is a regular lecturer and gallery guide at the National Gallery in London. She liaises with the Gallery’s corporate sponsors and with the Tate Gallery and the Tate Modern. She teaches US undergraduates on their Study Abroad semesters in London and was Lay Canon for the Visual Arts at St Paul’s Cathedral 2010-2014.

12 September 2020Janusz Karczewski-Slowikowski

Janusz has retired from a 35 year career in Higher Education. Whilst studying for his first degree, he worked part time in an antiques shop, which he came to take over as proprietor. Such was his interest in collecting that he became known as the dealer who bought but never sold. His lectures seek to explain furniture in terms of the skills and materials employed in its design and construction and also its socio-economic significance. He has lectured on antique furniture since 1975 and has been in the NADFAS Directory since 1982. He has lectured to over 300 NADFAS societies including those in Australia, Belgium, France, Germany, The Hague and Spain.

10 October 2020Dominic Riley

Dominic Riley is an internationally renowned bookbinder, artist, lecturer and teacher. He specializes in the restoration of antiquarian books and the creation of contemporary fine Bindings. He teaches his craft both in the UK and USA, across Europe and in Australia and New Zealand. His prize-winning bindings are in collections worldwide, including the British Library, the V&A, the National Library of Wales, the Grolier Club in New York and the San Francisco Public Library. He is an accredited lecturer with the Arts Society, a Fellow of Designer Bookbinders and President of the Society of Bookbinders. In 2013 he won first prize — the prestigious Sir Paul Getty award — in the International Bookbinding Competition, and his winning Binding was acquired by the Bodleian Library in Oxford.

YOUNG ARTS SPONSORSHIPS

Our ADFAS Young Arts Projects support students in our Community. Our projects are funded by donations from members, from the proceeds of our monthly raffle and our Coach Tours and Film Events. Please buy a raffle ticket when you attend our lectures. It goes towards a very worthy cause. We are pleased to report that some of our sponsorship recipients have achieved International and National acclaim and widespread local recognition thanks to our programmes and the ongoing generosity of members.

HERITAGE PROJECTS

We have completed the Recording of St. Alban’s Chapel, The Southport School. The published record of this was presented to the National Chairman of ADFAS in March 2017. We commenced a Church Study of ST. John’s Church Mundoolun in 2019. We continue to be involved in researching the history of Schools of Arts in the Gold Coast area. We have completed five School of Arts Projects – Numinbah Valley School of Arts, Southport School of Arts (established 1882) Pimpama School of Arts and Canungra School of Arts. Mudgeeraba School of Arts and Memorial Hall is currently being researched. All completed projects have been published and can be viewed on the ADFAS Website.